Glass Lewis urges vote against Deutsche Boerse board actions at AGM

The plaque of the Deutsche Boerse AG is pictured at the entrance of the Frankfurt stock exchange February 1, 2012. REUTERS/Alex Domanski/File Photo

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Influential proxy adviser Glass Lewis has recommended shareholders in Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) vote against ratifying the actions of the management and supervisory boards at the exchange’s 2018 annual general meeting next month.

German companies typically ask their shareholders to approve the actions of their boards over the previous year at the annual shareholder meetings. Votes against the boards’ actions amount to a vote of no confidence but are largely symbolic.

A spokesman for Deutsche Boerse declined to comment. The annual meeting is scheduled for May 16 in Frankfurt.

Glass Lewis said it based its recommendation on the failed merger with London Stock Exchange (LSE.L), fines imposed for public disclosure practices and an ongoing investigation into the company’s former CEO.

“We continue to believe that shareholders are not able to confidently determine whether the management and supervisory boards sufficiently fulfilled their duties in the past fiscal year,” the proxy adviser wrote.

In addition, it recommended that Joachim Faber, chairman of the supervisory board, remain in office for only another year, as a transitional period overseeing a new chief executive, rather than for another three years. It called for a new chairman by the annual general meeting in 2019.